The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights

The UDHR was signed in 1948, including by many Muslim-majority countries, but

countries such as Saudi Arabia, where the king is expected to comply with Shari’a, refused

to sign the declaration, since it was seen as violating Islamic law and failing to take into

account the cultural and religious contexts of the Islamic world.322 _{On the 5}th _{of August}

1990 the 54 member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference adopted the Cairo

Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (the Cairo Declaration).323

This declaration claimed to be a general guide and a complement to the UDHR, but

in reality it contained provisions that undermined many of the human rights guaranteed

under the UDHR. The Cairo Declaration has been viewed as undermining the universal

nature of the UDHR and thus marginalising the 45 states that have their own set of human

rights principles that are based on Shari’a law. Therefore, it can in no way be said to be

truly complementary to the UDHR. In its preamble, the Cairo Declaration embraces the

role of Islam and of the vicegerents of Allah (God) on earth.

321 _{JB Simonsen, ‘Redefining rights: Islamic perspectives and the Cairo Declaration’, in}

Kirsten Hastrup (ed) Legal cultures and human rights: the challenge of diversity (1st _edn,

The Hague: Kluwer Law International 2001)117-119.

322 _{Jacques Waardenburg, Islam: Historical, Social, and Political Perspectives (1}st

edn, Walter de Gruyter 2008) 167.

323 _{Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (Human Rights Library University of}

Minnesota, 5 August 1990) http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/cairodeclaration.html> accessed10 May 2015.

110

The importance of issuing a human rights document in the context of Islam which

will serve to guide member states in all aspects of life is also recognised. In the declaration

the historic role of the Islamic Ummah (community) and the belief that it was created by

God to be the ideal form of government are highlighted. Accordingly, the Ummah is

declared to have been given the role of guiding humanity in this confused world of

competing ideologies and of providing solutions to chronic problems in materialistic

civilisations.324

The Cairo Declaration acknowledges the fact that humankind has reached an

advanced stage of scientific achievement, but nevertheless offers religion as a solution by

purporting to safeguard human rights in accordance with Shari’a. The preamble makes

reference to fundamental rights, but it should be noted that these are not the fundamental

rights acknowledged by international human rights bodies, but the fundamental rights as

described in Islam.325 _{So where the Declaration states that no one has a right to suspend}

rights or limit them, what is being referred to here are rights according to Islam, which

limits rights in its own way. These limits as revealed by the Books of God and sent through

the prophets are not deemed to be abuses of human rights by the Cairo Declaration, since

they justified by Shari’a law.326

324 _Ibid.

325 _{International Humanist and Ethical Union, 'Concerns about the Cairo Declaration on}

Human Rights in Islam and Moves to outlaw the Defamation of Religion' (Secularism,2008) https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/3548f5e7828ad1103 41017.pdf> accessed10 May 2015.

326 _{Ann Elizabeth Mayer, 'Universal Versus Islamic Human Rights: A Clash of Cultures or}

111

Historically, the UDHR originated as a direct result of the experiences of World

War II, mainly in order to guarantee freedom of speech, religion, and freedom from fear

and want. Its foundation is built on these ideas, and it is made up 40 Articles. Freedom of

religion under the UDHR guarantees freedom of religion in teaching, practise, worship and

observance.327 _{By contrast, Article 10 of the Cairo Declaration has been viewed as aiming}

to convert people to Islam.328 _{It also prohibits atheism, which clearly contradicts Article 18}

of the UDHR.329

The main result of this is that the open door is left open for faith-based prosecutions.

In particular, the article states that “Islam is the religion of unspoiled nature. It is prohibited

to exercise any form of compulsion on man or to exploit his poverty or ignorance in order

to convert him to another religion or to atheism.” With respect to the right to fair trial, the

Cairo Declaration guarantees the right to protection from arbitrary arrest, torture,

maltreatment or indignity. It guarantees the right to be presumed innocent and states that

guilt will only be proven through a trail in which a defendant is to be given the right of

defence. Article 19 further stipulates that there are no other crimes or punishments other

than those which have been prescribed by Shari’a, which ideally include corporal

punishment, capital punishment and decapitation.330

The declaration cannot withstand critical examination in the context of Shari’a,

since the human rights concerns that existed in Islam before the creation of the UDHR are

327 _{Federico Lenzerini, The Culturalization of Human Rights Law (1}st _{edn, OUP Oxford}

2014) 84.

328 _{Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (n 322)}

329 _{UN, 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' (United Nations, 10 December 1948) <}

http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/> accessed 10 May 2015.

112

still not addressed. Instead what has been done here is to emphasise that there is an Islamic

justification to commit atrocities. Muslims continue to be put to death under the Cairo

Declaration for blasphemy as they are under Shari’a. Even though the Declaration provides

the right to a fair trial, it must be noted that the process of fair trial for the various crimes

contained in the Qur’an is also dictated therein.331 _{Therefore if the declaration is subject to}

Shari’a law, then fair trial would be what Shari’a prescribes and not what secular law

prescribes.